The Prevent Strategy A Community Interpretation

Transcription

1 The Prevent Strategy A Community Interpretation A simple approach to Prevent

2 A simple approach to Prevent

3 The Prevent Strategy A Community Interpretation Contents 03 Introduction 04 Prevent - what is it? 04 Some background 06 The objectives 10 What do these objectives mean exactly? 11 What now? 12 Glossary Page 01

4 Introduction My name is Nabeela Khan and I am a postgraduate student from Manchester. I have written this document because it annoyed me to hear about the myths and rumours circulating in our communities about the Government s Prevent strategy. But then I had a look at the strategy itself and understood why this might be the case; it is written in over 100 pages of Government jargon! I think most postgraduate students would struggle to understand it, let alone those of us for whom English is a second language. So this is my humble attempt to make the Prevent strategy more accessible. I hope it makes a bit more sense after you have read this. Let me start by saying that I think I am pretty lucky to be a British citizen. As a British citizen I get to be part of a free, democratic and open society. I can practice my faith and express my beliefs freely. It is my right to hold an opinion, to gather with others at a place of worship, to dress however I want to and to send my children to the schools of my choice. Freedom to do all of these things is mine and ours - by right. But with freedom comes responsibility. Being responsible with our freedom is a way of showing that we respect it and appreciate the rights we have. However, we do not live in an ideal society. There are people who don t respect these rights, and in fact abuse them and pose a threat to our communities. As members of this society we have a duty to stop such individuals from causing cracks in our communities and threatening the way in which we live. We must unite and work together, to help identify these people so that we can curb their behaviour, and where necessary, provide help, support and advice for those of them who are vulnerable. Document author and Shanaz Representative for Greater Manchester: Nabeela Khan Page 03

5 Prevent what is it? resources are not unlimited, it must prioritise according community which makes us all feel like we are a part of this must not be used as a means for spying on individuals or Prevent is one strand of the Government s counter terrorism strategy, CONTEST. Its main aim is to prevent people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. Theresa May, MP (Home Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities) is in charge of the Prevent strategy nationally. to the threat posed to our national security. At the moment, most efforts will be devoted to preventing people from joining or supporting Al Qa ida or related groups- because these are the ones that pose the society and we belong here. Support for terrorism is linked with not being part of a close-knit and multi-faith society. However, Prevent will not take control of allocating the funding for integration our communities. We are all part of this strategy and as communities we will help form the backbone of it. Local authorities will also have a key part to play. But as a national security issue, Prevent delivery biggest threat to the UK. initiatives, because they are needs to be developed in very Of course, most people of all confront the extremist views are much more knowledge- However other terrorist groups valuable for many reasons, close conjunction with central faiths (and no faith) in this that are at the heart of the threat able about our communities are also continually monitored not just for helping to reduce the departments. country reject terrorism and are we face. Sometimes, whilst than the Government is. We and resources allocated as risk of radicalisation. Prevent will be funded from against it. Prevent is not about trying to reach those at risk are in a much better position appropriate to for example There have been the Home Office and other convincing citizens that terror- of radicalisation, they even to identify where funding is the threat from the Extreme allegations that previous Prevent Government departments. Grants ism is wrong,we don t need ended up funding the needed, where there is a Right Wing. programmes have been used will be made available for local convincing! It is actually about extremist organisations that need for a support and advice Sometimes ideas are made to spy on communities. Prevent authority Prevent work. enlisting the support of people Prevent should have been network and where there is popular by extremist organisa- in our country to reach the confronting! This is wrong the possible risk of threat etc. tions which actually operate minority who may be attracted and a mistake that cannot We must take responsibility for legally in this country, but then to or drawn into terrorism. be repeated. Prevent initia- at least some of these areas terrorist groups can take up and tives must now be delivered because our involvement is vital exploit those ideas. This has Governments don t always effectively and responsibly. to the success of this strategy serious implications for the get it right. In the past the and in turn, key to protecting the scope of the Prevent strategy. Prevent strategy didn t really As community members we society in which we live. We all have a right of free speech in this country but preventing Some background terrorism means challenging extremist (and non-violent) ideas that are also part of a terrorist In order to understand why the Government has come up with the Prevent strategy, it is important to be aware of the following points: ideology. Prevent will also mean intervening to stop people moving from extremism into terrorist related activity. The number of people by people who promote that turn to extremism because the Policy and programmes to who are prepared to support ideology here and abroad. extremist groups give them deal with extremism and with violent extremism in this country Sometimes radicalisation is even a sense of belonging. Young extremist organisations more is very small. However, it is much driven by personal circumstances people who lack direction in their widely are not part of Prevent greater amongst young people. as well as local factors which, for lives, suddenly find this through and will be coordinated by the All the terrorist groups who pose many reasons, make that ideology becoming a part of such Department for Communities and a threat to us look for people to seem attractive. groups. They are vulnerable Local Government (DCLG). recruit to their cause. Those that feel they and easy targets. We must Prevent depends on a Radicalisation is driven by do not belong in this safeguard them. successful integration strategy. an ideology which says it is ok country, even though they Prevent should address all It is important to promote the to use violence. It is also driven are British citizens, sometimes forms of terrorism but because need for unity and a sense of Page 04 Page 05

6 The objectives disprove the claims made by terrorist groups and to people from being drawn into terrorism and blow up a shopping centre in Bristol. Ibrahim was arrested The following aims have been identified by the Government and give us an idea of what the Prevent programme is all about. Each aim is followed by an explanation: challenge terrorist and associated extremist ideologies. It is important that we have ensure that they are given appropriate advice and support. after members of the Muslim community, who had attended an awareness workshop on Prevent, raised concerns more projects in education, Once we have identified that about him to the police. communities and the criminal there may be a problem The government says that we changing. Instead, we such as gatherings, talks justice system in order to within our community, it is These examples show that those need to respond to the must all try to reach the and publications. challenge extremist views. It important that we then address closest to the individuals at risk ideological challenge of much smaller number of is also important that religious that problem positively. Radicali- of radicalisation are in the best terrorism and the threat people who are vulnerable to Sometimes, the people that these experts are involved in these sation is usually a process and position to help them. Prevent we face from those who recruitment and challenge their groups try and recruit to their projects because sometimes not an event. During that isn t about turning on your promote it. thinking. The Government must cause are vulnerable and easy the ideas that terrorist groups process, behaviours as well as friends, families or colleagues. help COMMUNITIES to do that, targets. This is why, as promote are based on faith opinions are likely to change. Rather it is about preventing There is more to the problem of because it is the communities who community members we need teachings that have been These changes may be them from being radicalised terrorism than the actual act of can identify these individuals most to be alert and active so that altered to suit an agenda. In quite obvious to the friends, in the first place. It is about violence. The one thing that all effectively and confront them we can help stop such people these situations experts are families and work colleagues of ensuring that they have access to terrorists have in common is that most credibly. falling into the wrong hands. required to give a detailed the person concerned. the appropriate support and they have a strong belief in an Challenging the beliefs of these response and help to clear any advice. It is about helping them idea and they are willing to go to All terrorist groups have a groups and disrupting their misunderstandings. None of us In January 2009, Nicky Reilly to see things from a variety of extremes to promote, or bring belief in some sort of an idea. ability to promote them is a very should be afraid to challenge and was convicted after he attempted viewpoints so that they are attention to that idea. So work to This is what binds them. important part of Prevent. question these ideas and claims. to attack a restaurant in Exeter. more informed and more challenge these ideas must be a The difference between In fact it is our duty to ask Previously, he had regular likely to question the views of part of Prevent. The Government their beliefs and those of Previous work in this area has questions why shouldn t we contact with mental health others. It is about empowering can take the lead sometimes, the majority of the people failed to engage with communities know what is going on in our services and had spoken about the individuals and in turn but often communities are much in our country is that they properly. It also hasn t used the communities? We have a right terrorism to them. making them much more better equipped to refute such believe violence and extremism valuable influence and reach to know. resilient and much less ideas. Most people in this can be justified in some way. of communities and community In December 2010, Taimour vulnerable to exploitation. country find terrorism totally Terrorist groups need to attract groups. Previous Prevent work Challenge may just mean debate Abdulwahab Al-Abdaly killed unacceptable and will never and recruit new people. They has sometimes given the about extremist ideas, but where himself in a bomb attack in The Channel process (a multi- support it. Work to refute do this by promoting what they misleading impression that the law is broken and people Stockholm, Sweden. Al-Abdaly s agency approach) looks after ideology should not try believe in. This can be done Muslim communities as a are encouraged to support extreme beliefs and those people who are vulnerable to change majority opinion with ease using the internet, as whole are more vulnerable to terrorism, it must also mean behaviours had raised concerns to becoming terrorists, and puts because it does not need well through other mediums radicalisation than other faith making arrests. And where at the mosque he attended in bespoke protective measures or ethnic groups. Prevent must people want to come to this Luton. He had been challenged around them to safeguard, not pass judgment on faith country from overseas to promote by mosque leaders and divert or educate them, in general or to suggest that only terrorism and terrorist groups eventually expelled but mosque or otherwise help them a particular kind of faith is and to put our lives at risk, it leaders did not consider as necessary. appropriate or acceptable. It must mean using the Home it appropriate to refer him to INSPIRE women s group have launched a Jihad against Violence which condemns terrorism from an Islamic perspective. Read their declaration at must be delivered in conjunction with communities here and overseas who are often better able than governments to Secretary s power to stop them. The next point that the government makes is that we should Prevent the authorities. Andrew Ibrahim was jailed in July 2009 for plotting to The final objective that the government has identified says that we must work with sectors and institutions Page 06 Page 07

7 The objectives, continued... where there are risks of radicalisation which we need to address. Radicalisation tends to happen in places where terrorist ideologies, and the people that promote those ideologies, are not challenged and are not exposed to free, open and balanced debate which would usually expose their arguments as misguided. Lots of sectors in this country are helping to prevent people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. These sectors include education, faith, health, criminal justice, charities and the internet. Communities themselves however, are the most crucial. A highly intelligent, prize-winning English student at Kings College in London, Roshonara Choudhry threw this all away in 2010 when she became the first Briton sufficiently influenced by the Al-Qaeda ideology to try to assassinate a public figure on British soil. She had no previous links with any extremist groups, but in exploring her concern around the Iraq war, she came across former Al-Qaeda leader Anwar al-awlaki s lectures on the internet. During over 100 hours listening she became convinced that she should punish MP Stephen Timms for voting for the Iraq war. Roshonara attended the MP s public surgery and stabbed him in the chest. Tellingly Roshonara used to pray alone at home rather than in a mosque at congregation, and when asked in her in post-arrest interview who she went to when she had questions, she replied, I don t ask anyone. I just listen to his (Al-Awlaki s) lectures. There s no-one to ask. In November 2010, 21 year old Roshonara Choudhry was jailed for life with a minimum term of 15 years. To make the strategy work, sectors should understand their obligations in this area. It is important to raise awareness and understanding of the risks of radicalisation and of how radicalisers work. Each sector should be capable of developing an effective response. The nature of that response and the role of Government will clearly vary. Measures that are suitable in a prison will not be suitable in a university. Statistically, most terrorist offences are committed by people under the age of 30, so it is vital that schools, colleges and universities are part of the Prevent programme. Through them we can reach young people who are at risk and help them to be more equipped in challenging such ideologies if and when they come across them. Some progress has been made with all of these sectors. Some sectors (like faith) have been at the forefront of work to tackle radicalisation in this country. This is inevitable because Al-Qaida ideology, for example, is driven by extremist religious beliefs; therefore mosques play a key role in helping to tackle such ideologies because they are better equipped to deal with this than Government officials. If a religious belief has been twisted so that it can fit an agenda then who better to address this than the religious leaders themselves? This is why community cooperation is so important for the success of Prevent. The Government wants to work with these sectors and the community because they are often more capable of addressing and resolving the challenges we face now. Page 08 Page 09

8 What do these objectives mean exactly? What now? In short, these objectives make three important points: The message is simply this: prevention is better than cure. Let s deal with the problem when we notice it, not when it gets out of hand. 1. Terrorist ideas should be identified and challenged. 2. Vulnerable people should be supported and protected from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. 3. Communities, institutions and the Government should all work together to tackle the problem of extremism. As members of the community, it is clear that we are an important part of Prevent, without our support and input, the strategy will not work. All three of the objectives share one aim: that through preventative work we want to contain and challenge radicalisation and minimise the risks that it may present to our national security. Let s nip this problem in the bud. Why wait for it to become so big that we struggle to cope with it? The main point is that the problems of extremism, terrorism and radicalisation are a very real part of our society. The few individuals who promote these ideas receive the attention they want by being loud and active. Why should we all sit back and let them speak on our behalf? If they are loud, we should be louder. If there is something going on in our community that we feel isn t right, we should address it. We shouldn t ignore it. It is our responsibility! The one thing that we must all remember when it comes to any strategy, whether it is designed by the Government or the people, is that for it to work, we must all work together. We must first ask ourselves: Do I have a responsibility to make a contribution? Then we must ask ourselves whether or not we are doing enough to make a positive change! In the last ten years we have seen our country and the world in which we live change dramatically. This hasn t been something we have been able to control, but we can control what happens next. We can do this by taking responsibility and accepting that there has been a change and then stepping up to protect the communities we live in. We have a duty to speak up and raise awareness of the issues of radicalisation and terrorism. As community members we have to be active. We have to know the community we are living in. If we all take responsibility to just educate and protect ourselves, our families, The Shanaz Network at work and the 40 houses that surround us, eventually we will all be making at least some sort of a contribution. When people come together and speak up, the possibilities are endless. How can you contribute to this effort? To learn more about the strategy Please visit the Home Office website ( where you will find lots of information and details about Prevent and other government initiatives. The Shanaz Network is a national community dedicated to bringing female voices into every level of decision making in Prevent strategy, policy and delivery. To find out more, visit If you wish to report any web related activity that is causing you concern then please visit for more information. Page 11

9 Glossary Terrorism The current UK definition of terrorism is given in the Terrorism Act 2000 (TACT 2000). In summary this defines terrorism as an action that endangers or causes serious violence to a person/people; causes serious damage to property; or seriously interferes or disrupts an electronic system. The use or threat must be designed to influence the government or to intimidate the public and is made for the purpose of advancing a political, religious or ideological cause. Extremism A vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs. We also include in our definition of extremism calls for the death of members of our armed forces, whether in this country or overseas. Ideology A set of beliefs. These beliefs can be religious, political or personal. Prevention Reducing or eliminating the risk of individuals becoming involved in terrorism. Prevent involves the identification and referral of those at risk of being involved in violent extremism. Radicalisation The process by which a person comes to support terrorism and forms of extremism leading to terrorism. Radicaliser A person who encourages others to develop or adopt beliefs and views that support terrorism and forms of extremism leading to terrorism. Radicalising locations Venues, often unsupervised, where the process of radicalisation takes place. Locations include public spaces, for example university campuses and mosques, as well as private/more concealed locations such as homes, cafes, and bookstores. Radicalising materials Literature or videos that are used by radicalisers to encourage individuals to adopt a violent ideology. Some of this material may openly encourage violence. Vulnerability Describes the condition of being capable of being injured; difficult to defend; open to moral or ideological attack. Within Prevent, the word describes factors and characteristics associated with being at risk of radicalisation. Page 12